People line up to trade guns for cash in Bay Area

The longer Lynette Bendy watched TV coverage of Friday's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the more she felt compelled to act. So, on Saturday morning, she eased her car to the back of a half-mile-long line of Oakland residents waiting to exchange firearms for cash at a gun buyback event at Saint Benedict's Church.

"I always was one for gun control," Bendy said. "The gun I'm returning right now I took from my nephew. He's only 14. It's ridiculous out here."

Details of the scope of the tragedy in Connecticut, in which seven adults and 20 children were killed by a gunman, were still sketchy when President Barack Obama, in a nationally televised address, hinted that it would lead to renewed discussion about increased gun control.

"It's not going to; it already has," said Adnan Shahab of Fremont, an open carry advocate.

Saturday's gun buyback event was scheduled long before Friday's tragedy. Sponsored by Youth UpRising in partnership with the Oakland Police Department, it offered $200 cash for working firearms (limit of two) from anyone who could prove Oakland residency. A similar event was held in San Francisco.

Long before the 10 a.m. start, the line of cars stretched for blocks.

Olis Simmons, CEO of Youth UpRising, said the events in Connecticut likely resulted in a "slight bump" in Saturday's turnout in Oakland.

"I think that in the wake of a tragedy like (Friday's), people understand that it can happen anywhere," she said. "We're not safe until we start to think differently about what our rights are and what price we pay for the right to bear arms."

Social media has thrummed with similar sentiments, both on Facebook and Twitter under the hashtags #Newtown and #CTshooting. The website for the James Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence bore a message of condolence that included the phrase, "We are better than this."

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan issued a statement Friday expressing support for Newtown from a city that "understands the heartbreak of young people lost to senseless violence."

"We agree with President Obama," Quan added, "that we are going to have to come together and take meaningful action. Senator (Dianne) Feinstein's legislation on assault weapons expired long ago, and any discussion of renewal or other legislation has been blocked."

Shahab welcomes the debate, but believes this is the wrong time to have it.

"I don't want to attach any malice on their part," he said, "but I can almost feel the squeal of delight that comes from the anti-gunners when an incident like this comes along so they can push their agenda. The problem is, everybody is still hurting. It's not the time for people to be pushing legislation. It should happen when people have calm minds."

Concord's Alany Helmantoler, a gun-rights advocate, echoed Shahab's contention and his assertion that more attention should be paid to the people who commit gun-related crimes than to the weapons themselves.

"This is an emotional situation for a lot of people," Helmantoler said. "That's not the way to deal with the circumstance, to be emotional and reactive. Every crime has its one set of facts. The person who did these things, did we miss any warning signs? I think more mental health issues are going unchecked."

Kim McGreivy of San Carlos thought Saturday was the perfect time to act. On short notice, she put together a group of 10 mothers who demonstrated for gun control for three hours at the corner of Olive and Laurel streets.

"We got a lot of strong reaction," McGreivy said. "Some negative, but mostly supportive. People feel like they want to do something. Guns in this country generally are too easy to get, too abundant. We might start a group of some sort."

The gun buyback in Oakland, held less than a mile from where four men were shot hours earlier, yielded more than 250 firearms before having to close Saturday evening, Capt. Ersie Joyner III said. Arrangements were made with the queue of drivers still waiting on 82nd Avenue for their guns to be redeemed at a later date.

Joyner praised Youth UpRising for its community outreach and the large response to the buyback.

"I've been doing this job for 21 years," he said, "and I've never seen interaction like this before."

More than a dozen candlelight vigils, organized on moveon.org, were held across the Bay Area on Saturday evening, including San Francisco, Berkeley, Sunnyvale, Richmond, Alameda and Oakland.

An East Richmond Heights organizer wrote: "This is an opportunity for us to grieve for the loss of innocent lives and to call upon our legislators to enact tougher gun laws to help prevent the kind of senseless violence we saw (Friday)."